Venus Williams accepted a wild-card invitation to play singles at this month’s DC Open, which would be the seven-time Grand Slam champion’s first tournament in more than a year. Williams, who turned 45 in June, is listed as “inactive” on the WTA Tour’s website. She hasn’t competed in an official match since the Miami Open in 2024. “There’s something truly special about D.C.: the energy, the fans, the history,” Williams said in a statement released Friday by organizers of the hard-court tournament, which begins with qualifying next weekend. “This city has always shown me so much love, and I can’t wait to compete there again.” Williams also played in the nation’s capital in 2022. “She has inspired people around the world with her accomplishments on the court and her visionary impact off the court,” said Mark Ein, chairman of the Mubadala Citi DC Open. “I know how much it means to our D.C. fans and community to be able to watch her compete in person this summer.” In February, the tournament in Indian Wells, California, announced that Williams would be making her return to the tour by playing there, then later backtracked and said it turned out she wouldn’t. Williams’ most recent Grand Slam appearances came in 2023, when she exited in the first round at Wimbledon — after slipping in the first set and hurting her right knee — and the U.S. Open. Her five championships in singles at the All England Club came in 2000, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2008 and she won the 2000 and 2001 U.S. Open singles trophies, too. She also won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles alongside her younger sister, Serena, whose last tournament was the 2022 U.S. Open, and a total of four Olympic gold medals. The older Williams said in 2011 that she had been diagnosed with Sjögren’s syndrome, an energy-sapping auto-immune disease that can cause joint pain. ___ Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich. More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis Howard Fendrich, The Associated Press
